


what we could've lost

by thegalaxyeffect



Category: The Fosters (TV 2013)
Genre: Brallie - Freeform, F/M, and guns, lots of blood, love love love, mostly just mentions of blood, not very graphic, school shooting, season 4, the secret is out, their love is finally accepted, though, what could happen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-31 21:01:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6487258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegalaxyeffect/pseuds/thegalaxyeffect
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Season 3 left us all with a huge cliffhanger. <br/>Maybe season 4 will open with some Brallie.</p><p>Or</p><p>What would happen if Brandon and Callie were faced with Nick with a gun in the school.<br/>Picks up right after the finale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	what we could've lost

“No, we can’t. Because it’s true.” Callie couldn’t force herself to make eye contact with her moms. She couldn’t bear to see their shocked and, no doubt, disappointed faces. 

“What are you talking about, Callie.” It wasn’t a question, more of a command for more details. She couldn’t blame Stef for sounding mad, Callie betrayed her trust.

“At Idyllwild, I thought for sure that there was no way I was getting adopted-”

“So the first thing you thought to do was to have sex?” Callie didn’t have to look to tell that Stef was outraged.

“Stef, calm down. Let Callie talk.” Lena, always the voice of reason was trying to stay calm but Callie could tell she sounded more surprised than anything.

“I don’t have an excuse. I know it was impulsive and dumb but we got over it.” Memories of that night came flooding back into her brain like a tsunami. Memories that she’d been trying to push deep, deep down so as to never think about them ever again. 

Memories like the way his hair felt in between her fingers and the way his neck smelled when she kissed him, the way his hands felt on her hips, roaming around her back. She almost gets goosebumps just thinking about him.

“Impulsive is damn right-” 

“Attention students and faculty, we have commenced a lock down. This is not a drill. I repeat, we have commenced a lock down, this is not a drill.” Callie’s head snaps up from where she was staring at her lap, only to see Stef and Lena’s bewildered faces. 

Lena leaps to her computer with a panic crossing her features. 

“Mariana and Jesus were marked present in their class. Jude was also marked present…” Lena types furiously into her computer.

“What about Brandon?” Stef asks the question that was filling Callie’s mind.

“It.. it says. He was, Brandon was marked absent.” Lena’s hand came up to cover her mouth as she looked up at Stef. 

“How do we know he didn’t leave school?” Only in a situation like this would Brandon ditching school be the better option, that fact alone chilled Callie to the bone.

“I saw him right before I came in here.” Her voice didn’t sound like her own voice. She felt far off, like she wasn’t really here. 

She didn’t hear anything else, seemingly floating into her own world, her own head. What if she lost Brandon? All of the emotions and feelings that she’d been pushing down were coming back and they were strong. 

She couldn’t help but think that she’d never get to give him one last kiss, she’d never be able to tell him that she loves him one last time. 

She was nearly hysterical by the time Stef and Lena decided to go into the main office, since Lena’s office was connected to it, telling Callie to stay put. 

She goes to Lena’s computer, one shaky step at a time and pulls up the surveillance camera page that was minimized on her desktop. Carefully clicking through all of them to study each one. 

Callie is almost giving up hope that she’ll see him, maybe he did the smart thing and ducked into a room when he heard the announcement, maybe he really did skip, when she opens the last camera’s footage. 

Her stomach drops when she catches sight of his flannel shirt. The only thing on her mind is that she  _ has to get to him _ .

The panic in her stomach builds as she scans the room for a way to get out. She doesn’t know how she’s going to get out until she sees the unlatched window behind her. Callie knows it’s her only hope to get out of this office. So, she drops her bag by the window and shimmies her way out. 

It’s not hard after that to get back into the school, Callie is able to just walk through the main doors. Her heart is pounding in her chest as she creeps through the abandoned corridor. She stops when she gets to the place she saw Brandon. 

She examined her surroundings, wondering where Brandon could possibly have gone. She slowly walks forward and peeks her head around the corner and there’s Brandon walking toward her. If she thought her heart was pounding before, now she must be having a heart attack.

“Brandon!” She can’t help how loud it comes out. Before either of them know it, they’re barreling toward one another, meeting in the middle with a hug filled with desperation and panic.

“Callie, what are you doing out here?” He finally says when he pulls himself away from her.

“I was looking for you, Lena said you were counted absent in your class, where were you?” She was clinging onto his arms like her life depended on it.

“I was in the guidance office, talking to Mat. Aiden came in and when the lockdown went into effect I asked him if you were in class. He said you weren’t. So, I had to come find you.” His hands were on her face and his brown eyes were boring into hers. 

“I was in Lena’s office, we, there are some things that we need to talk about when all of this is over.” She was suddenly nervous, not because there was someone with a gun on the loose but because she thought for sure that he’d hate her now that their secret was out.   

“Let’s go back to her office, she’s going to be worried sick if she finds you missing.” Brandon took her hand in his and quickly pulled her through the hall.

They stop dead in their tracks when they round the corner. Nick sees them right away and there’s a gun pointed at them. Brandon acts without thinking and pushes Callie behind him, trying to broaden his shoulders to give Callie more of a shield

“Nick, dude, what are you doing?” Brandon’s hands were in the air and he was trying not to sound scared.

“I saw Mariana kissing Mat.” Nick spits Mat’s name out like it’s acid in his mouth. 

“Nick, this,” Brandon’s voice cracks, “you shouldn’t do this. Mariana loves you.” 

“If she loved me she wouldn’t be kissing  _ him _ .” The gun in Brandon’s face is shaking.

Callie decides that she can’t just stand there behind Brandon as Nick gets angrier and angrier. Using Brandon to block her, she pulls her phone out of her pocket. The only thing she can think to do is text Stef. She taps in her pass code and she’s so close to being free. 

Until she remembers. Right as she hits enter, that she forgot to put her phone on silent that morning. The click of her opening her phone fills the silent hallway. 

“What the fuck was that!” Nick steps even closer. “You,” he yells pointing the gun at Callie’s head, now, “Get out from back there, come stand next to him. Both of you put your hands in the air. And you, drop the phone.” 

Callie does as she’s told, letting her phone drop to the floor in the process. Nick comes right in front of her, close enough for her to smell the alcohol on his breath. He drags the gun across her jaw, taunting.

“Mariana always said you were so smart, Callie.” He grins, but it's more of a snarl, “Obviously you aren’t smart enough to get out of this, though.”

Callie stares straight ahead, not allowing herself to feel weak. Her hand finds Brandon’s and they clutch onto each other, pushed into the air. 

She remembers now, that the last time she had a gun pointed at her, he was there too. He’s always been there when she needs him, and if they die today she needs him to know that she still loves him. 

Nick is still at her face sneering, gun pressed to her head and Brandon is at his wits end. If one of them is dying today he’s going to make sure it isn’t Callie. 

He can’t remember the last time he’s been this scared, not for himself, but for losing someone he loves. He does love her. She’s the love of his life and he never really stopped loving her. He holds onto her hand, tighter than necessary and comes to the conclusion that, if he dies today, she needs to know.

“Callie,” he whispers, his voice soft and full of emotion, “I need you to know something.”

Nick looks at him, he hasn’t moved the gun from Callie’s head, so Brandon looks at her. He looks at her for what he thinks is the last time and he takes her in. He takes in all her beauty. Her brown hair in waves over her shoulders. 

She dares a glance to him and he locks on her eyes. She looks like she’s about to cry, she looks like she has been crying. He looks at her, really looks at her, and squeezes her hand.

“I need you to know, that I’m in love with yo-”

“Drop the gun and put your hands in the air!” Everyone’s attention is snapped to Stef, all bullet proof vest and and gun pointed at Nick. Nick is distracted, his eyes on Stef. 

Brandon takes this distraction to do, probably, the dumbest thing he’s ever done. Brandon takes the hand that isn’t holding Callies and he spins around, using his body to block the gun and using that arm to fold her against his chest before he shoves her onto the ground, away from the gun.

There are two loud pops and a burning sensation starting in Brandon’s shoulder that reached all the way to his feet. He doesn’t remember falling to the ground, but he did and everything goes hazy. 

Callie scrambles to her hands and knees, trying to avoid looking at Nick’s body lying on the floor and instead launching herself at Brandon’s. There’s already a pool of blood surrounding his shoulder. She tries to remember anything that she’s ever learned that would help. She cups her hands over the gaping hole in his shirt, applying pressure.

She doesn’t even realize that she’s crying until she tries to talk, hot tears rolling down her face, mixing with the hot blood on her hands. 

“Brandon,” she sobs, “Brandon, no, you have to be okay. Brandon, Brandon I can’t. I can’t do this without you.” Her sobs continue as she rests her head on his chest, looking for a heartbeat. There’s a slow beat that fills her ears and she's washed with relief.

“Callie…” He breathes, and she looks at his half opened eyes. Callie, I’m okay.” He says through the searing pain. The less bloodied of her hands goes up and strokes his hair, pushing the sweat soaked strands off of his forehead. 

“I love you, Brandon. I love you and I never stopped loving you and I just love you so much.” 

Her entire body is shaking, but he’s still looking at her through half lidded eyes and she decides that it's now or never and presses a kiss to his mouth. Her lips are trembling and covered in tears hand his are too warm and still but she kisses him with all that she has. With all the love in her body. 

Then, the paramedics are there and she hears screaming but doesn’t realize its her own. And someone is pulling her away and the paramedics are loading him onto a stretcher and she keeps screaming as she watches them take Brandon down the halls and as they disappear out the doors. 

Her screams quiet and her sobs turn horse and she starts to be able to hear again. It’s Stef that pulled her off of Brandon and it’s Stef that's holding her now whispering softly in her ear. Telling her that everything is okay, that everyone is okay. 

Lena joins them too after a few minutes and sits on the floor, sandwiching Callie between them in the group hug of the century. 

When she runs out of tears, she sits there shaking until she finally just vomits on the floor in front of the three of them. Lena holds her hair back and Stef rubs her back. 

Whe she’s done puking she just kind of chuckles, they all do, even though nothing is funny. 

A paramedic comes and tells them that they need to check out Callie, that she’s probably in shock.

Callie agrees that she probably is considering she fully heard him say that and still was confused when she realized he was leading her outside. 

 

Stef has to stay at the school, so Lena drives Callie to the hospital under the promise that Stef will meet them there later with the rest of the kids. 

By the time they get there, Brandon is already in recovery. They said that the bullet wasn’t very deep so they were able to extract it without putting him under. It’s best to wait a little while before having any visitors, though, because the pain meds knocked him out. 

“Why don’t the two of us go home and you can get changed and we can pick up some dinner for everyone. Your choice where we go.” Lena says once all of the others get there. 

Callie looks down at herself as if she just now realized that she is covered in Brandon’s dried blood and nods numbly, following Lena to the car. 

When she showers she tries not to watch the blood swirling down the drain. By the time she gets out of the too hot shower she feels better. Well, a little better. She feels more like herself and a little less numb. And now she just wants to go see Brandon.

“What sounds good to eat?” Lena asks once they’re back in the car.

“Something fast, McDonald’s or Taco Bell.” Callie doesn’t really care, she’s not hungry at all.

They walk back into the waiting room with fifteen cheeseburgers and seven orders of fries only to find it empty. A nurse shows them to Brandon’s room and the whole family is in there.

Things in the room all feel pretty light, everyone is joking around and Brandon is too. When he says that he feels pretty good Stef reminds him that’s because of all the pain killers coursing through him.  

A heart ammount of jokes about being high, mostly all from Jesus, ensue. 

Brandon has to stay the night in the hospital and Stef is staying with him. Everyone trickles into the hallway but Callie stays in her seat until the door is closed. 

Brandon scoots over in his bed and pats the spot next to him, she crawls in and tucks herself into his good side. 

He sighs as his hand leafs through her hair. 

He smells like sterile like the hospital but she smells like herself and it reminds him of their first time together. 

“I broke up with Court.” He whispers breaking the comfortable silence.

“We’re going to make this work this time, Brandon. You’re eighteen and I’m in love with you and that’s not going to stop.” He looks surprised and she hates herself for always being the one to tell him that they can’t happen. He meets her halfway and their kiss is soft, unlike any of their others, they know that they won’t let this one be their last. 

It’s soft because they both know that there will be more. 

“We’re both going to get grounded.” She whispers against his lips. “They know that we had sex.” He doesn’t even open his eyes when he responds.

“Good.”

 

It isn’t until Brandon is back at home that they have the conversation that Callie has been dreading.

“We aren’t going to break up this time, moms.” Brandon says clutching Callie’s hand in his. 

“We’ve thought about it a lot.” Lena starts, “You’re both grounded. But, we saw how much you two care about each other, and we are going to try to figure this out in a way that you can stay together.”

“Until then, no sex in the house.” Stef says with a pointed look and a good natured laugh.

Brandon wraps Callie in his arms and it isn't until this moment that Callie fully realized what exactly they could’ve lost. 


End file.
